Vergarola_explosion
Vergarola explosion
1946 explosion in Pula, Croatia
The Vergarola explosion, also known in Italy as the Vergarolla massacre,[1] took place on 18 August 1946 when the sudden detonation of 12 large pieces of assorted ordnance,[2] containing an estimated 9 tons of explosives, killed more than 100 people and injured 100 others at Vergarola (or Vergarolla) beach, in Pula (Pola), which was at the time under temporary Allied military administration.[3] [4] The ordnance, which "had been swept from the water [and] were piled up on a beach awaiting disposal"[5] exploded at just after 2pm, 18 August 1946. Initial newspaper reports cited 43 dead and 57 injured, including two British soldiers.[6] Many of the victims were bathers who were attending an annual swimming event called Scarioni Cup.[7] The explosion had strong political implications, because local Italian leaders and the main Italian newspaper L'Arena di Pola, suggested that it was a demonstration against the Italian feelings of the residents, and a way to reinforce the possible (later actual) annexation to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[8]
The exact number of victims of the incident remains undefined, with estimates ranging up to about a hundred dead.[9]